The Garmin Wrist GPS
For quite some time, I’ve been wanting to get one of the Garmin GPS systems for running and hiking. The 205 would work, but I’d rather have the 305 since it has a heartrate monitor. But even better than that is the 405, their newest one.
At this morning’s group run, a number of people had the various models, so I got to spend some time talking to them about them. Actually, a few of them had multiple models, so I got some good perspective on the differences.
First off, the 405 looks like a big watch. That’s a bonus, becuase you can wear it at any time. The 205/305 versions (the older ones) look like some sort of sci-fi gadget. (Or maybe a Dick Tracy watch.) Weight wise though, everyone agreed that they are about the same. The watch on the 405 keeps working in standby mode, and will last for days.
No one had run theirs until the battery was dead, so they couldn’t say how long they last. The consensus was probably 8-10 hours. (Which I think is about what the specs say.)
The biggest complaint everyone had about the 405 was the screen was too small. The older models have a bigger display that can hold up to 4 different “items”, but the 405 could only hold 3 items. And the text on the 405 was pretty small, so that made it harder to read while running. Another issue someone pointed out on the 405 was it has a scrolling display. Sure, it looks cool, but is what ends up happening is that you have to look at it 3-4 times to get all the information, and when your running, that just aint convenient.
All versions have relatively good GPS reception. The occasionally lose coverage in the woods, and as with all GPS’s, switchbacks on the trails tend to mess things up. I think there is a foot pod that can be connected into the system that takes over when coverage is lost, but since no one had one, I’m don’t know much about it.
Hopefully that information helps you out. It definitely makes me consider the 305, which has dropped dramatically in price since the 405 came out:
Amazon prices as of this writing:
- Garmin 405 with heart rate monitor: $349.99
- Garmin 405: $299.99
- Garmin 305 with heart rate monitor: $209.71
- Garmin 205: 152.65
